The groups members, composed of recording industry luminaries, academians
and artists, claimed widespread copyright infringement and industry harm as
reasons supporting the requested injunction. This time, the disgruntled
parties are using the results from a detailed study to back up their claims.

The Field Research Corp. conducted a study of 2,555 college students who
were Internet users. In a report submitted by E. Deborah Jay, the
study shows a direct correlation between Napster use and decreased CD sales.

"(Nearly half) of Napster users ... described the nature of its impact on
their music purchases in a way which either explicitly
indicated or suggested that Napster displaces CD sales," said the Field
Study. "The more songs Napster users have downloaded, the more apt they are
to say explicitly or suggest that Napster has reduced their music
purchases."

According to statistical analyses filed with the U.S. District Court in the
Northern District of California, essentially every single Napster user
sampled was engaged in some copyright infringement while using the Napster
service and the majority of songs actually copied and downloaded on Napster,
over 87 percent are infringing.

The plaintiffs argued that a preliminary injunction should be issued because
the music industry will likely succeed on their claims of contributory and
copyright infringement, which they first took Napster to court over Dec. 7
of last year. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit
include A&M Records Inc., Geffen Records Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment,
Inc.

"This is not just about online versus offline," said Hilary Rosen, president
and chief executive officer of the RIAA. "Most in the online business
community recognize that what Napster is doing threatens legitimate
e-commerce models -- and is legally and morally wrong."

No stranger to legal battles with the RIAA, MP3.com Inc. CEO and
Chairman Michael Robertson also submitted a declaration in support of the
motion stating that file sharing services like Napster do nothing to promote
emerging artists and that MP3.com has not authorized Napster to distribute
the music of MP3.com artists.

"In my view, Napster is not designed to promote or share the music of
unknown or lesser known artists. The only way to find a song
on Napster is to enter the name of the song and/or artist that the user
wants to find," said Robertson.

Last month, Fine's SoundScan published a study trying to link the decrease of university record store sales to Napster's popularity.

Responding to the claims in a statement Tuesday afternoon, Napster CEO Hank Barry said his company was trying to settle with the plaintiffs, but that a fundamental difference in opinion was holding them back.

"The RIAA's position in all of this is, as they say, dij` vu all over again," Barry said. "Every time an innovation has made it easier for people to enjoy music more conveniently and less expensively, the music industry has complained and tried to slow the adoption of the technology. And every time, the music industry has nonetheless benefited."

Essentially calling the SoundScan study a hazardous shot in the dark, Barry picked it apart:

"First, the RIAA tries to drum up proof of lost sales due to Napster, but its effort